HBPC 2017
The Handheld Business Partner Conference

“Thanks for a very good conference and superb hospitality during this week. It was a real pleasure to see how a good conference is organized. I am going to try and emulate this for our next user conference. Looking forward to the 10th anniversary.”

The 9th Handheld Business Partner Conference (HBPC) was held in Stockholm on 17-19 May, 2017. Handheld business partners representing thirty-one countries from around the world shared their knowledge, learned about new Handheld product developments, listened to world-class innovators in rugged mobile computing and had a great time networking with the Handheld team and worldwide colleagues.

THE CONFERENCE CONTENT

Amy Urban, director of marketing for Handheld US, and our conference host, welcomed all attendees. From a show of hands, we learned that we had a nice mix of first-time attendees as well as partners who have attended many Handheld partner conferences.

"I would like thank you very much for your warm welcome and nice hospitality. Indeed, I have participated in dealer meetings for twenty years across the Europe and the world. This one was a great, unique experience. Really warm & friendly relationships, useful speeches and sessions, and excellent organization provided for a top notch event."

Jerker Hellström, CEO of Handheld Group, kicked off the formal conference program with a brief summary of his Handheld Partner World Tour in 2016. Based on participant feedback, we’ve move the partner conference to be a biannual event. So since our partners didn’t come to Sweden last year…Jerker went to them. He suggested that he’ll be doing the same in 2018, so please reach out if you’d like to have him visit or call on any key customers with you.

Our lineup included both internally- and externally-focused topics and speakers.

VDC RESEARCH: David Krebs, Executive Vice President for Enterprise Mobility and AIDCVDC Research has been a part of the HBPC from the beginning. This year, David Krebs spoke on current market rugged mobile computing trends and forecasts. A research-based overview is always a great way to set the stage for the rest of our speakers.

SOTI: Stefan Spendrup, Sales Director NordicsMobile device management is a growing requirement for enterprises of all sizes. Stefan Spendrup presented details of how SOTI MobiControl coupled with the Handheld Nautiz X2 is helping delivery enterprises be more efficient.

U-BLOX: Peter Fairhurst, Market Development Manager, u-blox AgU-blox GPS receivers have long been a point of differentiation for the Handheld product line. Peter Fairhurst told attendees about increasing performance—and decreasing size—of the coming generations of u-blox receivers.

Azima DLI:Michael DeMaria, Director, Product Management, Azima DLIAzima DLI solved a challenge for their customers by settling on rugged Handheld tablets as a part of their integrated predictive maintenance solution. Their solution now reduces risk, improves safety, increases production and optimizes plant operating efficiency.

GOOGLE: Paul Clark, EMEA Strategic Partnerships, Android EnterpriseThe Android operating system has seen a growing role in the Handheld product portfolio. Paul Clark brought us up to date on strategies Google is using to make the Android OS increasingly enterprise-friendly.

During the conference, attendees also learned event-exclusive pre-launch information about upcoming Handheld products. Product presentations and product updates were given by Johan Hed, Handheld’s director of product management and Myra Long, Handheld’s Director of Business Development. Bernhard Kreichhammer and Robert Broström presented on Handheld’s Support and Service capabilities.

Thomas Löfblad, Handheld VP of worldwide sales, closed the day with comments on the importance of Handheld’s relationships with business partners. At Handheld, business partners aren’t anonymous resellers but rather an integral part of the successful—and rapidly growing—global team.

PARTNER SHOWCASE

Attendees talked with the Showcase Partners and explored their solutions during the welcome reception and throughout the conference. Between speakers and during coffee and lunch breaks, partners and Handheld staff mingled in the Partner Showcase area where our many of our partners displayed solutions which include the Handheld’s rugged mobile computers. Showcase partners included 4D Global, Carlson Software, Elatec, Sacci, Brodit, SOTI, and u-blox.

“I have attended at least twenty conferences in my business career, but yesterday’s conference was very different, as said it is partner conference not a sales meeting. It was fantastic to know how much value you give to your business partners.”

EVENING ACTIVITIES

The evening event opened with champagne followed by dinner in the banquet hall. Two singers from the band Hitmaskinen provided lively entertainment which, this being Sweden, included many songs from ABBA and Roxette. It was a fun way to finish an intense and engaging event.

“Thank you again. This event was very well organized and tremendously informative. I had no idea what to expect coming in, but I’m so very glad I attended. We made a really good decision with standardizing our product line with the Handheld tablets, this event further proved that point. Great job to the entire team who put this together.”

JOIN US IN 2019!

Our next Handheld Business Partner Conference will be held in 2019. We hope you’ll be able to join us.